Meetings
by NotQueen
Summary: An Onmyouji AU. Matsukaze Tenma is a new apprentice at Kogarashi Shrine. He meets many friends and enemies, also discovers things about himself, good and bad.
1. Chapter 1: Matsukaze Tenma

It was a scorching summer. Beneath the Torii, stood a little brunette, wiping his sweaty forehead with his long sleeve, his eyes slanted as he looked towards the clear sky.

"So hot…" he groaned. He finally arrived at the Kogarashi shrine, after a great amount of time carrying his luggages up the monstrous stairs. He walked into the shrine grounds and looked around. The shrine was clean and tidy. It's not very big, but still looks decent and comfortable. He walked slowly as he enjoyed the view around him.

Suddenly, one of his luggage broke open and the contents scattered all over the ground. He cringed in annoyance and starts picking his stuff up. While doing so, someone walked towards him and gave an envelope to him.

"Ah, that's mine! thank you!" said the Brunette, looking up to his helper. He saw a tall man with black, puffy hair looking down at him.

"Don't mention it. Could it be that… you're Aki-sama's relative?" he said as he helped the kid tidy his things up. "Yes. I'm Matsukaze Tenma. I came from Okinawa to study Onmyoudou here." Tenma said, bowed to the black-haired guy.

"Nice to meet you, Matsukaze-sama. I'm Sangoku. I've heard from Aki-sama that her relative is going to stay at the shrine for a while. Here, let me help you carry that luggage. It must be hard to climb those stairs with these heavy luggages. With such a tiny body too, haha!" Sangoku said. The last statement made Tenma pout, but he lets Sangoku carry his luggages nonetheless.

"So… what kind of youkai are you, Sangoku-san?" Tenma asked as they walked together. Sangoku looked at Tenma surprisedly. "How do you know that I'm not human?"

"I don't know, I just do... By the way, you haven't answered my question, Sangoku-san!" Tenma said, looking at Sangoku excitedly. Sangoku smiled and said,

"Guess." Tenma pouted once again and muttered, "You're no fun."

"But, you must be really strong, Sangoku-san! To be able to maintain human form for a long time!" Tenma continued excitedly. Sangoku puffed his chest and smiled at him.

"Yeah I guess I am quite strong, heh heh." Sangoku said proudly.

They finally reached the shrine building and after Tenma gave his thanks to Sangoku, they said goodbye to each other and went separately.

"_That kid is pretty sharp… I thought I have made myself as human as possible…_" Sangoku thought as he walked towards the forest.

* * *

"Do you need any help, Tenma?" said a woman with short black hair.

"No, thank you. I'm already done, Aki-nee"

"Okay, then. How about some tea and snacks?" Tenma nodded happily. He just realized that he's really hungry when he heard his stomach growl. Aki giggled as Tenma squirms with his reddened face.

"Eat up, Tenma. You must be really worn out because of the long journey" Aki said, bringing a tray of various cookies and tea into the room. Tenma said thanks in reply, and gobbled the cookies happily.

"These cookies are really good, Aki-nee!"

"I'm glad you like it. By the way, isn't there supposed to be a letter for me?" Aki asked.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot. Here." Tenma said as he handed an envelope to Aki. Aki opened the envelope and read the letter immediately. Meanwhile, Tenma looked outside the window and caught a glimpse of two little fox cub jumping around. One of the foxes had red ribbon on it's neck, and the other had blue. The fox with blue ribbon stopped moving and stared at Tenma intently. Realized that he got the fox's attention, Tenma waved his hand and smiled. The fox just stared back at him for a few seconds then ran towards the forest.

"Tenma," Aki's voice got Tenma's attention back to his cousin. "Starting tomorrow, you will study and work here. I expect many things from you. Endou-kun also said a lot of great things you are capable of. So, I wish you best of luck, and that you will become a great onmyouji." Tenma bowed down in gratitude.

"Thank you for your kindness, Aki-neesan. Please take care of me from now on." Aki smiled at her cousin affectionately.

"My pleasure. Now, you should rest, you'll be busy tomorrow." Aki said, lifting the tray of empty glasses and plate off the table. Tenma stood up and bowed a little.

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Aki-neesan." Aki nodded and opened the door for him.

Aki sighed as she saw Tenma scampered through the hallways. Her eyes looked at him sadly.

"_Such a cruel thing happening to such a good kid… I really hope for the best for you, Tenma..._"

* * *

AN: gosh gosh this is my first fanfic so I'm really excited eheheh. Please be gentle with me, everyone m._.m


	2. Chapter 2: Kitsune

The first task Tenma had to do was read textbooks and scrolls and memorize the contents, which, unfortunately, is Tenma's weakness. It's really hard for him to read the complex words and sentences, so it's harder to memorize too. He tried asking Sangoku about the writing, just to be disappointed because youkai use different kind of writing and can't understand human writings. He went to look for another apprentice and ask them, but it turns out that he's the only apprentice in the shrine. Everyone in the shrine are full-fledged onmyoujis and they were all so busy and Tenma just couldn't ask them to waste their time for a mere student. Some of the onmyoujis, including Aki, are willing to lend him a hand, but it's still not enough.

Tenma is currently studying beneath a thick canopy of a tree, nearly dozing off. He would've fallen asleep if it weren't for an apricot that fell onto his head. He rubbed his head and looked up. He saw a fox rushing from one branch to the other, and finally disappeared into the depth of the forest. Tenma yawned and got up, thinking to splash his face with water to freshen up.

He went to the well to get some water. He splashed a bit onto his face and wiped his sleeves to dry his face. As he removed the damp fabric off his face, he saw two teenagers staring at him. One of them had pink hair and the other had teal. On top of their head were a pair of fox ears. The teal-haired one is squirming uncomfortably and tried to pry his hand off the firm grip of the pink-haired one, who in turn glared at the teal-haired.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Tenma said, "Can I help you?"

"This guy here wants to apologize" the pink-haired said, pushing the teal-haired one closer to Tenma, making him squirm even more. Tenma just watched nervously.

"Okay, uh… um, I'm sorry I threw that apricot onto your head." He said, scratching his not itching head, face flushed like a ripe tomato. Tenma's eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, so you're that fox I saw! It's okay, if it's not for you, I'd be asleep and won't be able to study. So… thanks, I guess." Tenma replied. The teal-haired fox glared at the pink-haired fox and hissed.

"Tch! See, I was actually doing him a favor!"

"But you don't need to throw a fruit onto this kid!" The pink-haired countered. Then both fox-eared teens glared and hissed at each other intensely. Tenma simply stared at them, confused of what to do in this kind of situation.

"Um, please don't fight. I'm fine, you see, so please don't fight," Tenma said. However, both fox-eared teens are unfazed. Tenma sighed and tried to think of some way to calm them down. He then remembered someone saying that people get cranky when they're hungry.

"I know! let's eat some cookies together!" Tenma exclaimed.

Two pairs of fox ears perked up at that statement.

* * *

After a lot of crunching and chewing, the fox-eared teens finally settled down. Tenma managed to have some small talk with both of them, which is actually quite fun despite an occasional bickering between pink and teal.

Tenma learned their names: Ranmaru, the pink-haired kitsune, and Masaki, the teal-haired kitsune. Both of them lived in the forest near the shrine. Tenma also learned that a kitsune's power is reflected in the number of tails they have. The more tails they got, the more powerful they are. Ranmaru and Masaki currently have three, implying that they're ones of the lower level kitsunes.

"Hey, Tenma. Why do you keep your sleeves down in this kind of weather? You even wear an undershirt. Just looking at you makes me feel hot." Masaki said, pointing to Tenma's long sleeves.

"Now that you mention it, people usually roll up their sleeves and only wear one layer of clothing when it's hot." Ranmaru added. Tenma smiled sheepishly.

"I just don't like showing a lot of skin. It's okay though, I'm used to it." Tenma unconsciously pulled his sleeves, as if it can get any longer.

Ranmaru and Masaki seemed to catch the hint of Tenma's discomfort. They dropped the topic and instead told Tenma about a nekomata who plays musical instruments and a winged youkai who can see something clearly from miles away. Tenma seemed to be glad that they didn't pry further and responded excitedly. When dusk arrived, both kitsunes said goodbye and went to the forest.

After seeing them off, Tenma went back into his room. He knelt down and slowly wrapped his arms around his torso tightly. His eyes looked down sadly.

_"God, please make it disappear..."_

* * *

**AN: I may not be able to update this for quite a while because there's a deadline coming up. Wish me luck!**


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